Classes were over, trunks were packed - for the most part-, and goodbyes have begun to be exchanged amongst those who were leaving never to return to Hogwarts as students.

She had no one she wanted to say goodbye to, except maybe Zak, but she refused to think about him leaving. Fel was somewhere around the Castle doing Godric knew what and so, Lecia was one of the few students sitting at the table finishing her lunch.

She wasn't really thinking about anything in particular, nothing of consequence at least, and she was definitely not eating the peas on her plate, but they made funny turns of she moved them around with her fork ( which was just what she was doing).

She was bored, she needed something to do, but what she wasn't expecting was for someone to plop themselves right next to her. Someone who, quite frankly, scared her a bit. The one and only Althea Smallweed.

It was her last week, her last week ever at Hogwarts. And while she would never claim that she would miss this place (--emotions, feelings... they were just weaknesses one could not simply express, the perfect targets for potential attacks -- it was safer to pretend to have no emotions at all), she would.

She would miss the patrols, the walls, the thrill of the Quidditch games, the lingering taste of victory after winning the cup that... but no, she would have to return home, to take care of Tawnie and finally give Alfie a break. Get a job, grow up -- there's no time to figure out life when you're a Smallweed -- or at least that was what she had always believed.

Speaking of Smallweeds, she would miss them to, more than anything perhaps, Micah, Phee and Jere; not seeing them everyday would feel unreal, the opposite of a daydream, a real nightmare.

And Jere, she would not be able to keep an eye on Jere, and only Merlin knew what could the boy do if she was no longer there. It was that thought what brought her to the Great Hall, no hint of reluctant as she walked straight towards Lecia Dorset, taking a seat by the girl's ask without even greeting her first.

Lecia didn't immediately reply to Althea, she was still trying to figure out why in Merlin's name she was talking to her. Never in her whole four years at Hogwarts had Althea Smallweed even deigned to look at her. Lecia was a mere mortal in comparison to the goddess-like aura that the older Smallweed gave out.

The girl was right though, she was Jere's friend, and it was one of the closest relationships she had at the castle. It was one of the few things that made her life there bareable. As far as she knew, Althea wasn't that big on her brother being around girls, well she wasn't going to stop being his friend if that was what his sister wanted.

"Yeah, I am. He's my best friend actually, why do you ask?"She dropped her fork, pushed away her plate and turned on the bench to look at the older girl properly.

Best friend. Friends. Acquaintance: She didn't care at all (--best friend was quite a childish concept in her opinion, even if she had claimed Louis to be her best friend back when she was still a second year). "Whatever," The Head Girl waved her hand dismissively, as if that extra piece of information was just delaying this whole conversation that she would rather end as soon as possible.

(--she needed to pack some of Andromeda's nail polishes and lipsticks before the girl could pack them, she needed to refill her stolen stash of make up before she stopped sharing a dorm with her co-captain.)

Momentarily gazing towards the girl's plate, after exactly three seconds she looked at her brother's friend or best friend or whatever the girl was supposed to be. "Will you do me a favor?"

Whatever? The girl’s dismissal of her words stung. Lecia flinched and her fingers were itching to reach for her wand, or at the very least the fork that was just there within her grasp and stab the hand that was so carelessly mocking her.

Jere wouldn't appreciate that though, and Althea would probably jinx her into oblivion before she could even try anything.

So Lecia merely squared her shoulders and tilted her head.

"Will you do me a favor?"

The Gryffindor crossed her arms, not for the first time considering that the girl sitting before her was going to ask her to stay away from her brother. Then again, if that was indeed her intention, she figured that there were several more intimidating ways in which she might have conveyed that sentiment.

"That depends," she began, suddenly noticing from the corner of her eye that the Great Hall was becoming emptier by the second, "if it involves me stopping being friends with your brother, you can go to hell," perhaps angering Althea wasn't a good idea, but she would never abandon Jere. "If it's anything else, I'm all ears."

"if it involves me stopping being friends with your brother, you can go to hell,"

She rolled her eyes, did the girl intend to seem intimidating? "Ain't as bad as people say, darlin'." All throughout her seven years at the castle, the girl had accidentally harbored a not exactly good reputation for herself -- and during all those seven years she had pretended not to care, and at some point she had stopped caring. She could be kinder, she could be nicer, but then she would stop being herself.

The first emotion that she had known was her father's disappointment (-- had she been a boy, things could have been different perhaps), one could not simply expect her to be surrounded with a constant aura of happiness when the need to prove herself was one of the only few things she cared about.

"If it's anything else, I'm all ears."

"Jere," She began, gazing around the Great Hall in case the boy was there and she had not seen him. "He'll keep doin' stupid things next year, just try to stop him before he gets himself killed." Being a sister and the closest thing to a mother the three younger Smallweeds had wasn't, and had never been, an easy task. Mainly because she had been just a kid herself at the same time.

Not as bad, hu? Well, she certainly could've fooled her. Lecia was not easily intimidated by people in general. There were only a couple of humans at Hogwarts that did that, Altair was a perfect example -but was he even human?-, then there was Don Rafael, the few students that did were of no consequence really, but Althea Smallweed gave her chills.

It might have been the poise, the way her eyebrows arched as if you were of a lower species, or maybe just the fact that she was, well...Althea.

"Jere, He'll keep doin' stupid things next year, just try to stop him before he gets himself killed."

That statement brought a smile to Lecia's lips and her shoulders relaxed a tiny bit. She was still wary. This was a new side of the girl that she had never witnessed before, it was somewhat nice to know that she had a softer side, even if just for her family.

She reckoned that she would feel the same once Henry got to Hogwarts and was away from the protective environment her home provided, for him at least.

"Ah yes," she said in a slight chuckle, "he does have a tendency for trouble, your brother." She finally uncrossed her arms, "don't worry Althea, I'll keep an eye on him, make sure he and Cain don't kill each other and I'll keep him away from Pax." That was easier said than done.

"I will take care of him. I love him you know, he's like my brother here, I'll even keep potential heartbreakers at bay." Lecia would protect Jeremiah Joseph Smallweed for his sister. She would've done it even if she hadn't asked.

"We're Smallweeds, trouble always finds us," Some, like her, were able to deal with it a bit more elegantly -- Jeremiah on the other hand always seemed to make some of the most problematic situations even worse (--and Alfie and her had always been there to try to fix the mess). That was what the older siblings were for.

"I love him you know, he's like my brother here."

A grave mistake. Any hint of kindness she could have been planning on expressing towards the girl faded as soon as she dared to say those words. "He's got enough sisters already," She snapped, voice as emotionless as always, casually gazing towards her painted nails (--pink this time, Jere had chosen the colour) as she spoke. She was not as bad as people said, but she could be. "I don't care about heartbreakers, perhaps that will toughen him up."

A partial lie, while she believed that such thing could certainly make him grow up in some way, the girl that dared to break Jere's break would have to face the wrath of the seventh year.

(Maybe that was why the boy had always been so reluctant about Pearce.)

Her comment was not well received. Well, tough luck, Lecia didn't care if Althea liked the way she thought about Jere or not, she was not going to apologize about how she felt.

Lecia had been pretty much alone at Hogwarts for the first two and somewhat years of being there, it wasn't until Jere tried to bribe her with pastries and offers of kisses in exchange for her letting him copy her charms homework that she truly found a friend at school. He quickly became her go to person, much more than Fel.

The girl had to refrain from voicing her thoughts, some of them were along the lines of, "yeah, where were his sisters when he went missing? I didn't see any of you looking for him?", and lots of other mean stuff.

But deep down she could understand. If someone had tried to 'claim' Henry as their brother, she wouldn't have liked it either. So she merely gave a slight nod in acknowledgement.

"I don't care about heartbreakers, perhaps that will toughen him up."

A sense of indignation went through her. Jere was not soft, if anything, he was tougher than most boys there. "He's tough enough alright, besides" she continued without flinching, "I think you're right. It's the girls who should worry about him breaking their hearts. He's quite selective." She smiled.

Althea did not even bother to reply to that comment, for she was sure that the girl could not understand. No one could. In truth, the girl was just being dramatic, but she had always thought that no one could imagine how it was to be like them. They were all tough (even Tawnie was probably tougher that some of the students of that castle), but none of them were tough enough -- and they would never be. "You can never be tough enough." Eventually, she spoke, a short scoff following her words.

Smallweeds -- they spread and grew, invaded and fought, but perhaps they were doomed to remain small.

(--she wanted to change that.)

"He's quite selective."

This time, she just laughed. Did she genuinely believe her words? "Honey, he's fourteen," And had developed a crush on that dreadful Helen Kane basically since he set her eyes on her for the first time. "Fourteen year old boys ain't selective." She loved her brother, but the boy should really stop kissing all lips he came across with.

In a way, Lecia could understand where Althea was coming from, not that she could ever compare the reasons why she had to be tough in certain aspects of her life to why the Smallweeds had to, but everyone had a secret struggle.

And though Jere and her had never really discussed his family dynamics, she knew enough and that was all she needed to know.

"Honey, he's fourteen, Fourteen year old boys ain't selective."

The older girl's mocking laugh and the way her patronizing words were being uttered did not set well with the Gryffindor, and Jere's sister or not, she was fighting every single fight instinct she had not to go for her wand. She opted to try and explain herself better. "I merely meant that he hasn't settled for only just one girl. He hasn't found one that he deems worthy, that's why he keeps snogging around."

Truth be told, Lecia didn't think there was someone worthy of him. He was the best there was, even if he tried his damnest to prove otherwise. "Was that all you wanted Althea?" She continued. "You might not like me, but I can assure you that as long as I'm here, I'll keep an eye on Jere and that I will take care of him. I don't ditch my friends, nor do I take them for granted. I love your brother, he's my best friend."